Capstone:Crafting a Blade

Summer Hofmann 2021
House	Fine Arts
Advisor	Kelly Foshee
Plans	Animal Science, OSU, Zoology
Advice	Choose a project that you can have a realistic goal of achieving. Its all well and good to dream of a really big project, but If you don't have a realistic way of achieving it, it won't work out. You also have to persevere and really work towards the end goal, nothing in life comes easy, and random challenges always pop up and you have to learn to get through them in order to succeed.
Type	Portfolio
Subject	Forging a Blade
Discipline	Visual Arts

I created a sword in the style of an old swiss degen. I formed the metal, ground out the shape of a sword and followed the steps of forging a blade including the formation of the blade itself, the quenching process, followed by the tempering process. The blade is made up of four parts, the blade, the hilt, the guard, and the pommel. After the formation of the blade, I will assemble all the parts and then the sword will be complete!

How It Began

I originally wanted to create a full suit of metal plate mail armor.

How It Changed

No things did not go as planned, I ran into several issues with my original goal, mainly being time and resources that I didn't have. I changed my project to something similar in terms of metalworking, but much smaller and more manageable. And even then I ran into several issues with my revised project, however I overcame them and "forged" ahead to complete my project.

Reflection

I learned how to make a sword for one, but I also had to be patient and persevere through unforeseen obstacles in order to complete the project.